Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Backward-looking reasons for adopting rules cannot count ... — Carmelics
    Home/Consequentialism
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Backward-looking reasons for adopting rules cannot count as genuine justifications within utilitarianism.

    Consequentialism
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Utilitarianism evaluates rules solely by the consequences of adopting them.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Desert and entitlement are created by events in the past, making them backward-looking reasons.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.It is never a good utilitarian reason for adopting a rule that it gives people what they deserve or are entitled to when desert or entitlement derive from past events.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Rule utilitarianism justifies rules by their expected utility when generally adopted, which can include the social utility of honoring past commitments and expectations.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A rule that rewards desert and respects entitlements produces forward-looking benefits: stable expectations, trust, and cooperative incentives that maximize aggregate welfare.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Thus, backward-looking reasons can serve as the content of utility-maximizing rules without themselves being the foundational justification, dissolving the alleged incompatibility.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Mill's account in 'Utilitarianism' ch. 5 explicitly grounds justice-claims, including desert, in the utility of security, showing backward-looking concepts are instrumentally integrated into utilitarian reasoning.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If backward-looking considerations reliably track patterns that produce superior consequences when institutionalized, utilitarianism has systematic, not merely incidental, grounds to endorse them.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The claim therefore conflates the genetic origin of desert-claims with their justificatory role inside a consequentialist framework, committing a non sequitur.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Consequentialism

    Connections

    1 topic

    Justice & Punishment2 linked

    Related

    A rule that rewards desert and respects entitlements produces forward-looking be...Desert and entitlement are created by events in the past, making them backward-l...If backward-looking considerations reliably track patterns that produce superior...It is never a good utilitarian reason for adopting a rule that it gives people w...
    +5 moreShow less
    Mill's account in 'Utilitarianism' ch. 5 explicitly grounds justice-claims, incl...Rule utilitarianism justifies rules by their expected utility when generally ado...The claim therefore conflates the genetic origin of desert-claims with their jus...Thus, backward-looking reasons can serve as the content of utility-maximizing ru...Utilitarianism evaluates rules solely by the consequences of adopting them.

    Similar

    Mill's claims about felicific tendencies of actions and the role of ru...82%For a utilitarian, a rule is adopted on the grounds that following it ...80%These claims about felicific tendencies and rules are reconcilable wit...77%Alternative criteria such as actual consequence utilitarianism or a ma...76%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: justice
    View source passageHide passage
    The third and final difficulty stems from utilitarianism’s thoroughgoing consequentialism. Rules are assessed strictly in the light of the consequences of adopting then, not in terms of their intrinsic properties. Of course, when agents follow rules, they are meant to do what the rule requires rather than to calculate consequences directly. But for a utilitarian, it is never going to be a good reason for adopting a rule that it will give people what they deserve or what they are entitled to, whe
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit